hi. New question for you all. Monday night was our first night that we skipped the bedtime nursing (the only one of the day we still have) because my 15 1/2 month old seemed to be losing interest. He didn't seem to mind at all, went right to sleep, slept through the night, and woke up at his normal time, around 7:30. (He has been sleeping through the night for the most part since about 6 months, and really regularly for the past 2 or 3. He will occasionally wake up for a few minutes, but fall back asleep himself.) Last night, started out well, but he woke up 3 hours after he went to bed, and would not be consoled, so I nursed him, and he fell back asleep, so I did as well. however, my husband later told me little D. fussed on and off for a while until he finally stayed asleep. So, about 3:30 AM, he woke up again, and couldn't get himself back to sleep. I went in, changed his diaper, cuddled him for a minute on my shoulder, and he seemed like he was back asleep already, so he fell right back to sleep until it was time to get up this morning. So, do you think this has anything to do with the weaning? I was thinking I would try to skip the last feeding again tonight (unless he's asking for it) and see how it goes. Does it go back and forth like this sometimes? (By the way, I also started paying attention to the fluids he was taking in during the day (milk and water) and while I hadn't kept track before, it seemed like he had less than he usually does.) As far as I know, he wasn't feeling sick and everything else was just like a normal day. Thanks for your insight.

January 19th, 2006, 07:22 PM

LLLKate

Re: night waking because of weaning?

Hi Shelly,
Sorry you didn't get a reply to your post until tonight. How did last night go for you and your ds? Sometimes when babies are going through a change such as weaning, even if it is being done gradually and with love, they still may encounter some bumps along the road. So I would suggest that his wakefulness could be due to the change-even if he is the one initiating weaning. You are right to consider that it could be due to something else, such as the onset of a cold, stomach discomfort due to something he ate, etc. In other words-any of the same things that could bother us at night!Oftentimes, toddlers who were otherwise sleeping long stretches on their own for some times do experience times where they wake up and are scared because of separation anxiety. All things being otherwise normal (no illness, no other major changes in schedule, foods, etc) maybe he is waking up and missing that last feed. I think you will know more after at least a few more nights. It sounds as if you are covering all of your bases and are very in-tuned to your son's needs! Sometimes weaning will occur very gradually-over weeks and even months. Sometimes a child's breastfeeding needs will vary according to their own individual needs. I would suggest seeing how the next few nights go and then you may have better idea how he is adjusting to his weaning. Good luck and keep us posted! (I promise a quicker response next time!)

January 19th, 2006, 07:58 PM

Shelly

Re: night waking because of weaning?

Hi Kate, that's okay. thanks for your thoughts. I gave him a little bit of water instead of nursing last night, and he fell right asleep. He didn't wake up at 10, but did wake again at 3:45, and then had a bit of a hard time falling back to sleep. He was acting very tired at bedtime, and sort of clingy, so I decided to offer him the breast, and he sucked for a longer time than he has in a few days. (I'm not sure if that was the right thing to do, but I wanted to see if he slept any better tonight. I figured, if he does, maybe he's not quite ready to give up that last feeding, and if he doesn't, maybe it's something else.) I'll let you know how tonight goes.

January 20th, 2006, 11:24 PM

bird

Re: night waking because of weaning?

I know that everyone goes straight to teething everytime a routine changes but I think this was around the time my son started getting his eye teeth. He had been a good sleeper since about 1 year and this was a bit confusing. He became much more needy and wanted to nurse during the night but no more often during the day. He continued to nurse until he abruptly self-weaned about 2 weeks ago(almost 22months). After the eye teeth passed he lost a bit of interest in nursing again. Just a thought.

January 22nd, 2006, 07:27 PM

Shelly

Re: night waking because of weaning?

Thanks, Bird. Midway through the week, I noticed he was little drooly and his nose was a little drippy, so I thought maybe it was teething. (It would have to be his molars, though, since he has all his other teeth. I think it's kind of early for those, but all his others came in early.) That may also be part of it, but it turns out that he was coming down with a cold, so I decided just to let the weaning go for now, until he starts feeling better. Maybe we'll try again next week. Thanks for all the insight!